Critic Reviews

If you've never seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, of course, all of this will be incomprehensible. But if you have seen the film, Quest will remind you how rich that tattered, muddy medieval satire is — how deeply its jokes may have lodged in your cranium over the years. Even the herky-jerky cheapness of the game's animation dovetails nicely with the original Holy Grail's no-budget wit. By creating a CD-ROM that actually enhances its source material — and then shoots off in rewarding new directions — Idle and the 7th Level gang have, rather amazingly, nailed multimedia's own Grail.

I envy those of you who may play this game without ever having seen the movie. Every tiny humorous detail will be new to you. You may be confused and frightened. This is a truly bizarre world without logic or reason. Things will make no sense and one thing will not lead to another. Don't Panic! This is normal.

In summary, Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time could certainly be considered to be aptly named. After all, even if you manage to exhaust every single facet of the program, all you have really done is watched a bunch of clips from the TV show, played a few mindless distractions and, not to put to fine a spin on it, wasted your time. Really, though, the best waste of time is an entertaining waste of time and that is exactly what the package offers, from screensavers to show clips. What more can you ask of a game that delivers on exactly what the title advertises?

In the game Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail, your goal is quite obvious—collect the Holy Grail! There are two ways to accomplish this task. You can either select the “Collect the Grail” option from the first screen and the game is over immediately or you can choose to go for it and find your way through a whole bunch of Monty Python silliness. I guess the latter choice should be yours if you do not want to be left with the feeling that you have just wasted a good amount of money buying this game. Even if you have picked the latter option, you still have to count on the amount of time you may end up “wasting” (as a compliment) with this game!

I really don't know how this product would sit with someone who hasn't seen the movie. (There are actually some people who still haven't seen this movie, right?) If you aren't intimately familiar with the source material, buy this game at the risk of your own confusion. It is not an introduction or a substitute, it's a supplement. Rent the video first. Is that too much to ask?